National Poetry Month

National Poetry Month
April 1, 2020 to April 30, 2020
Join our 30-day celebration of poetry in the Yampa Valley!

If there's anything we're certain of in April 2020, plans change! At Bud Werner Library, we intended to celebrate National Poetry Month via our Short Story Dispenser, which was scheduled for a poetry takeover. Alas, the Short Story Dispenser is locked inside the library with it's enticing buttons safe from coronavirus right now.

So...let's celebrate virtually!

What's National Poetry Month?

National Poetry Month was launched by the Academy of American Poets to remind the public that poets have an integral role to play in our culture and that poetry matters. Over the years, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world. In 2020, as we face unprecedented circumstances, National Poetry Month has taken on new meaning and importance, because poetry and inspiring language can help bring solace and needed strength.

How to celebrate National Poetry Month virtually with Bud:

  • We'll post a new poem on the Bud Werner Library Facebook page every morning this month.
  • Sign up for Poem-a-Day from the Academy of American Poets, and enjoy a free daily poem in your inbox. Poem-a-Day features new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year. U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo serves as guest editor for April 2020.
  • Get acquainted with Joy Harjo, who was appointed the new United States poet laureate in June 2019, and is the first Native American Poet Laureate in the history of the position. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 9, 1951, she is a member of the Mvskoke/Creek Nation and belongs to Oce Vpofv. She received a BA from the University of New Mexico before earning an MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop in 1978. Harjo is a poet, musician, and playwright. Learn more about Joy Harjo & read her poems here.
  • Did you know that Colorado became the first state to formally establish a state poet laureate position in 1919? Meet Colorado's poet laureate, Bobby LeFebre, who was appointed to a four-year term in 2019. LeFebre is the first Latino and first person of color to earn the position, and he is believed to be the youngest poet with the title since it was created a century ago.  He co-founded Sacred Voices, a nonprofit that uses spoken word to engage local youth. Learn more about Bobby LeFebre here and check out LeFebre's web site with videos of his spoken word.
  • Sign up for the Poem-a-Day podcast and stop for a brief daily listen to beautiful poetry on whatever device you choose, wherever you may be.
  • Check out an eBook of poetry from Bud Werner Memorial Library's digital Overdrive collection.
  • Or try an eBook of poetry from Bud Werner Memorial Library's Hoopla collection. In fact, Hoopla has curated a special collection of poetry audiobooks and eBooks just for Poetry Month.

So, what exactly IS poetry?

Apparently it's been a subject of debate, so the Academy has posted a glossary of  poets’ definitions of poetry. Here are a few of our favorites from their venerable list:

  • Coleridge (1772–1834) | “the best words in the best order.” W. B. Yeats (1865–1939): “pleasance and half wonder.”
  • Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) | “Poetry is doing nothing but using losing refusing and pleasing and betraying and caressing nouns.”
  • Robert Frost (1874–1963) | “Poetry provides the one permissible way of saying one thing and meaning another.”

But Spoken Word has given poetry new and modern meaning, too. Watch the documentary SlamNation, streaming on Kanopy, about a trip through the Slam Poetry phenomenon, following New York City's novice team on its journey to join over 120 spoken word artists on 27 city teams at the National Poetry Slam.

Want to learn more about the poets behind the words?

In addition to biographies in our digital eBook collection, you'll find poet biopics streaming on Kanopy — documentary films about e.e. Cummings, Robert Frost, William Shakespeare, Billy Collins and more!